Students in the Honors Program participate in the Political Science Department Honors Colloquium, organized by the Honors Coordinator, which meets each semester. Students are required to register for the two-credit Honors Colloquium each term. The Colloquium will involve workshops in which students discuss the design of their projects, including their methodological strategies, and begin testing their ideas in a public forum. At the same time, students will work in consultation with their honors supervisor on project conception, design, etc. (See below.)

Students pursuing Honors are also required to enroll for between four and eight credits (at least two each term) of Independent Study (POLI 644). Senior Honors Thesis credits can count toward completion of the major and fulfill the "capstone" requirement. Students in the Honors Program may also enroll for two thesis credits during the January term. As part of POLI 644, students seeking Honors are expected to work closely with one or more faculty members in project conception, research design, data collection and analysis strategies, etc.

Students with projects that involve human subjects (interviewing; surveys; participant observation; action research, etc.) should follow the guidelines outlined on the
College Institutional Review Board website.
A separate link exists for the
Social Science IRB
, where you can find the necessary IRB forms.

The student and the thesis supervisor will file project status reports with the Honors Coordinator by mid December.

The Honors Coordinator will consult with the thesis supervisor to assess the prospects of each thesis project by late January. The Coordinator and faculty supervisor will make a mutual decision to terminate the project or allow the student to continue.

The Honors Coordinator will report the continuing Honors candidates list to the Director of Academic Programs by March 31.